NCAA To Launch Investigation into Penn State Scandal

NCAA President: Tragic Events Were 'Deeply Troubling"

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) president Mark Emmert informed Penn State by letter Friday that it will look into the overall infrastructure of the athletics program, ranging from how the department is monitored to its ethical failures in light of recent sexual abuse allegations involving former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky

Said Emmert in the letter to Penn State president Rodney Erickson, "I am writing to notify you that the NCAA will examine Penn State's exercise of institutional control over its intercollegiate athletics programs, as well as the actions, and inactions, of relevant responsible personnel. We recognize that there are ongoing federal and state investigations and the NCAA does not intend to interfere with those probes."

The unfolding scandal has already claimed the jobs of former all-time Division 1 leader coach Joe Paterno, who was diagnosed on Friday with a treatable form of lung caner, as well as, university president Graham Spanier, who remains a tenured faculty member.

Penn State president Rodney Erickson said in a statement released by the university, "It will be important for Penn State to cooperate fully and provide any assistance possible to the NCAA. The University's and NCAA's interests are perfectly aligned in identifying what went wrong and how to prevent anything similar from happening again.”